THEY’RE usually making decisions to ensure hospital patients have a long and fulfilling future.
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But the region’s future health professionals were given the opportunity to make life-changing decisions about their own careers.
Medical students and junior doctors came together in Tamworth for a careers forum, where they were given “rare opportunity” to talk with practitioners and consultants about pathways to particular specialties.
While a bevy of specialties were laid out, “making a difference” was a recurring theme for a number of junior doctors at Tamworth.
It’s potentially a very important day in their fledgling careers, but it’s also a chance for local specialist stocks to the boosted in Tamworth with the hospital showcasing the opportunities in the region.
“We want to give them opportunity to see how they can develop their career, both here and in other places and maximise as much as they can when they are in Tamworth and the area,” Tamworth hospital manager of medical services Graeme Kershaw said.
Mr Kershaw said the recent regional training hub announcement will help open up more opportunities locally.
“We’ve got an exciting new initiative in the regional training hub, which is going to provide more people to take up jobs as far as the health service is concerned,” he said.
“We want to give them opportunity to see how they can develop their career, both here and in other places and maximise as much as they can when they are in Tamworth and the area.”
University of Newcastle Department of Rural Health director Jenny May said “unless we actually provide some career opportunities and train them here, then we lose them back to the city.”
The forum was also aimed at making sure the young doctors are in-the-know about the path to their specialty.
“We’re not just talking about the opportunities that you can train for here, we’re giving them a real sense of all the sorts of specialities they can be involved in,” Dr May said.
Intern Alison Jones had her heart set on general practice from the start, but she believed the experience gained at the hospital will hold her in good stead.
“I’ll probably apply for an emergency department job, just to increase my skill-set and go on to GP training from there,” she said.
While she admitted the days were long and sometimes “stressful”, it’s still a very rewarding pursuit for Dr Jones “seeing [patients] from when they first come and they are quite unwell to when they leave and you’ve hopefully made a big difference in their lives”.
Mind to make a difference
TAMWORTH-raised doctor Sally Sinclair has a great idea in mind to make a difference in her hometown.
Currently interning at the hospital, Dr Sinclair wants eventually move into psychiatry, a not-too-popular path among students and young doctors.
“It has traditionally been a bit of an issue in psychiatry,” she told The Leader.
“I enjoyed all aspects of medical training, except psychiatry is one area that is very, very underfunded at the moment and unsubscribed.
“I think most of it is when we go through medical school, we focus on what goes wrong with the body and not necessarily what’s going on with the mind.
“It’s not until you’re out a bit more in your training, you see issues with mental health can actually impact on the whole body.”
Luckily for the former Peel High student, there are opportunities in Tamworth and Armidale to continue her training as psychiatrist.
Once again, being able to make a difference was a draw-card to Dr Sinclair’s desired specialty.
“You can really make a big difference if you provide a good service to the community and that’s one area that’s captured my imagination,” she said.
Dr Sinclair joined with a number of fellow doctors for a forum on medical careers paths with presentations on specialties including ophthalmology, anaesthetics, emergency, pathology, paediatrics, gastroenterology, radiology, obstetrics, general practice and psychiatry.